Case Report: Giant choledochal cyst

We report an adult female with a rare giant choledochal cyst. The patient presented following a normal pregnancy with the classical triad of an abdominal mass associated with jaundice and right upper quadrant abdominal pain. The cyst was excised using an intramural technique and biliary reconstruction achieved with a Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy. Our patient has remained well with no evidence of malignancy over a 12 year review period. The aetiology and current management of this condition are discussed.     

Expression and regulation of connexins in cultured ventricular myocytes isolated from adult rat hearts

Gap junctions were assayed during re-differentiation of adult rat cardiomyocytes in long-term culture to gain insight into the processes of remodeling. Double immunostaining allowed the localization of connexins Cx40, Cx43, and Cx45 between myocytes and demonstrated co-expression and co-localization in individual cells and gap junction plaques, respectively. Immunoblots showed differential time-dependent changes in connexin expression and phosphorylation. The total amount of connexins and the ratio of phosphorylated/non-phosphorylated isoforms gradually increased during the re-establishment of intercellular communication. Dual voltage-clamp studies showed the involvement of several types of gap junction channels. Multichannel currents yielded diverse spectra of g(j,inst)=f( V(j)) and g(j,ss)=f( V(j)) relationships ( g(j,inst): instantaneous gap junction conductance; g(j,ss): conductance at steady state; V(j): transjunctional voltage), indicative of homotypic and heterotypic channels. Single-channel currents revealed two prominent conductances reflecting gamma(j,main) and gamma(j,residual). The histograms of gamma(j,main) showed four discrete peaks (41-44, 59-61, 70-76, and 100-107 pS) attributable to a combination of Cx45-Cx45, Cx40-Cx45 and Cx43-Cx45 channels (1st peak), Cx43-Cx43 and Cx40-Cx43 channels (2nd peak), Cx43-Cx43 channels (3rd peak) and Cx40-Cx40 and Cx40-Cx43 channels (4th peak). However, the presence of heteromeric channels cannot be excluded. The data are consistent with an up-regulation of Cx45 and Cx43 during re-differentiation.     

Determination of optimal cryoprotectants and procedures for their addition and removal from human spermatozoa

The objective was to test the hypothesis that the optimal cryoprotective agent for cryopreservation of human spermatozoa would be a solute for which cells have the highest plasma membrane permeability, resulting in the least amount of volume excursion during its addition and removal. To test this hypothesis, theoretical simulations were performed using membrane permeability coefficients to predict optimal procedures for the addition and removal of a cryoprotectant. Simulations were performed using data from four different cryoprotectants: (i) glycerol, (ii) dimethyl sulphoxide, (iii) propylene glycol and (iv) ethylene glycol. Thermodynamic formulations were applied to determine approaches for the addition and removal of 1 M and 2 M final concentrations of cryoprotectant, allowing the spermatozoa to maintain a cell volume within their osmotic tolerance limits. Based on these data, ethylene glycol was predicted to be optimal for minimizing volume excursions among the solutes evaluated. These predictions were then experimentally tested using glycerol as the control cryoprotectant and ethylene glycol as the experimental cryoprotectant. The results indicate that there was a higher (P < 0.05) recovery of motile spermatozoa after cryopreservation when using 1 M ethylene glycol than with 1 M glycerol, supporting the hypothesis that use of the cryoprotectant for which the cell has the highest permeability will result in higher cell survival.      

Comparison of isolation of Haemophilus vaginalis (Corynebacterium vaginale) from peptone-starch-dextrose agar and Columbia colistin-nalidoxic acid agar.

A total of 447 cervical or vaginal specimens were inoculated in parallel onto peptone-starch-dextrose (PSD) and Columbia colistin (10 mg/ml)-nalidixic acid (15 mug/ml) (CNA) agar and were incubated for 48 h at 35 degrees C in an atmosphere with 2 to 10% CO2. One hundred (22.4%) of the cultures were positive for Haemophilus vaginalis. Forty-eight of the isolates were recovered from both PSD and Columbia CNA agar, five from PSD only, and 47 from Columbia CNA agar only (P less than 0.001). On Columbia CNA agar, 76 of the isolates were detected after 24 h of incubation, and the remainder were detected within 4 days of incubation.